KANE SET TO START AGAINST BELGIUM
GARETH SOUTHGATE is ready to give Harry Kane the chance to surge ahead in the race for the Golden Boot against Belgium tomorrow night. The England manager will make changes to the team who beat Panama 6-1 and admitted he would leave out Kane if he felt it would benefit the team ahead of next week’s last-16 clash. However, Southgate is mindful of his prolific striker’s ambition to finish as the World Cup’s top goalscorer and is ready to play the Tottenham striker in Kaliningrad. ‘As a manager you have to think of the whole squad and then your second thought is for individuals and their own situations,’ said Southgate. ‘That is a really complex balance in any business where you are managing people. But I am sure we can get that right. ‘He is the captain and he knows he will
ENGLAND’s smooth progress to the last 16 of the World Cup has captivated the nation — except, it seems, the blazers on the FA council.
The 127 representatives who make up the council should be among those embracing the tournament to the limit. Yet given the opportunity to buy tickets for England’s games in Russia, just two of them have taken up the offer.
Admittedly the blazers, who love their freebie Wembley perks, would have to pay their own way to Russia, while the FA board are being invited to attend one knockout game each.
But you’d assumed the passion for football among the councillors would have seen a lot more than two of them wanting to watch England in person at the World Cup.
The council includes 43 county representatives, 19 life or senior vice-presidents, 10 divisional representatives, 12 Premier League and Football League representatives, 18 affiliated associations, six supporters, disability and inclusion representatives, five vice-presidents, a chairman, two vice-chairmen and the chief executive.
COLLYMORE, who predictably tore into the Press over teamsheet-gate, posted a Twitter video of a packed Moscow nightclub going strong at 2am on the morning of England’s game against Panama. This is the same Collymore (above) who failed to make it to Nizhny Novgorod to record interviews for his Russia Today programme, telling people he had a migraine. Perhaps that was brought on by the loud dance music he shared with his Twitter followers. IF ENGLAND keep to their strict media schedule, then the group stages will be over before manager Gareth Southgate or captain Harry Kane sits down for any length of time with daily newspaper reporters, who routinely ask the questions that set the football agenda.
Southgate has fulfilled all his FIFA obligations with rights-holders, appearing at pre-match and post-match Press conferences plus giving a little extra content to the English media.
Yet why should the FA care? Their forensic stage-management of player and management availability has resulted in Southgate receiving fabulous Press without the need to explain his strategy in any great detail.
In contrast, Belgium boss Roberto Martinez has met the Press every other day and is relaxed about the England Press Corps staying in the Belgium team hotel in Kaliningrad.
Repino love-in continues, with the England players and management returning to their hotel base after the victory against Panama to find personalised
matryoshka dolls in their rooms. The FA media and operations departments organised a St Petersburg artist to paint pictures of each player in the squad plus Gareth Southgate and assistant Steve Holland on their respective dolls.